TULSA, Okla. — A judge has refused to dismiss a civil lawsuit that accuses a Tulsa megachurch of trying to cover up the rape of a 13-year-old girl by a worker on the church's campus.

The Victory Christian Center had argued that the girl's mother, who filed the suit, was not entitled to any relief under the law. A judge on Monday rejected the church's request to dismiss the lawsuit.

Ex-janitor Chris Denman was sentenced to 55 years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple sex-related charges. Denman admitted raping the teenage girl in a stairwell on church property.

The lawsuit accuses employees of not reporting the August rape to the authorities while the church conducted an in-house investigation.